By Clynton Namuo
The Union Leader Correspondent
DOVER, N.H. — Firefighters pulled three people from a burning building Sunday morning, including a woman who was injured trying to douse the flames.
Fire Capt. Joseph Fortier said firefighters arrived to a multi-unit building at 1 George St. around 7:20 a.m. and found flames spitting from one side of the structure and two people sitting on a front-facing roof after they scrambled to escape the blaze.
Firefighters used a ladder to bring two men safely to the ground.
Fortier said firefighters taking a hose into the home also found an injured, middle-aged woman inside a bedroom on the first floor. He said they took her out of the building and immediately transported her by ambulance to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.
“It’s her room where we believe the fire might have started,” he said. “She had tried to put the fire out and she was injured in the process.”
Fortier said he did not know how hurt the woman was or what type of injuries she had, but said Sunday afternoon that she remained hospitalized. He did not know how the fire began, but a preliminary investigation found the blaze may have started in her bedroom.
Fortier would not release the names of the three people who escaped the building. Residents were alerted to the fire by a smoke detector.
At least one other person was home when the fire began, but that person escaped without assistance, Fortier said.
Firefighters needed about 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control, Fortier said, and the fire eventually went to three alarms because of its location on a hill and the numerous people that had to be rescued.
Fortier said the building was completely gutted and “uninhabitable” but remained standing. He said it was too early to tell whether it could be repaired.
He said the building has at least two units and estimated damage at $100,000.
“It’s a balloon construction and fire travels through the walls like nothing,” Fortier said.
Red Cross officials were on scene and assisting those displaced by the fire.
The cause of the fire appears accidental, but remains under investigation, Fortier said.
Fortier said officials are still investigating what caused the blaze, but do not believe it was malicious.
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff Writer Kathryn Marchocki contributed to this report.
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